Regan Brown
SpaceX manufactures and launches advanced rockets, including the Falcon 9 rocket, which has seen five major revisions since its first successful orbital launch in 2010. The rocket uses rocket kerosene and cryogenically cooled liquid oxygen, with the latter making up more than two-thirds of the overall fuel load. The Falcon 9 burns 3,200 lbs of fuel per second at full power, with a total fuel mixture of 64,000 gallons. The cost to fill an entire Falcon 9 is around $150,000.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Fuel mixture | 64,000 gallons of liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) |
| Percentage of RP-1 | 39% |
| Percentage of LOX | 61% |
| Cost of RP-1 per kilogram | $0.70 |
| Cost of LOX per kilogram | $0.20 |
| Total cost of fuel | $150,000 |
| Fuel consumption | 3,200 lbs of fuel burned per second at full power |
| Fuel tanks | 60% longer in V1.1 |
| Fuel leak | Caused a Falcon 9 booster to catch fire and tip over after a droneship landing following a Starlink launch |
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What You'll Learn
Falcon 9's fuel mixture
The Falcon 9 rocket uses rocket-grade kerosene, also known as RP-1, and liquid oxygen (LOX) as fuel. The liquid oxygen needs to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures to be compressed and fit more into the rocket. The percentage of RP-1 to LOX is approximately 39% RP-1 and 61% LOX. The Falcon 9 rocket typically carries about 39,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 25,000 gallons of rocket-grade kerosene, for a total of 64,000 gallons of fuel mixture.
The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket has 7,300 gallons of LOX and 4,600 gallons of RP-1, totalling 11,900 gallons of fuel mixture. The second stage burns approximately 1.04 gallons per second. The single Merlin 1C engine in the second stage has a nominal burn time of 345 seconds.
SpaceX has been working on reusable rocket technology to reduce the cost of launching rockets. While the first stage of the Falcon 9 can be reused, the second stage cannot be reused as a new one needs to be built for each flight. The cost of fuel for a Falcon 9 rocket is around $150,000, which is a small fraction of the overall launch cost.
In addition to RP-1 and LOX, methane has also been used as fuel during the testing of Starship prototypes. However, releasing methane into the atmosphere contributes to global warming, so SpaceX started piping the excess methane into a recondenser to be cooled and turned back into a liquid.
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Cost of Falcon 9's fuel
SpaceX, founded in 2002, designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets. The Falcon 9 rocket, named after the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, uses rocket kerosene and cryogenically cooled liquid oxygen.
The cost of fuel for a Falcon 9 rocket is estimated to be between $200,000 and $300,000. The rocket carries about 39,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and 25,000 gallons of rocket-grade kerosene, for a total of 64,000 gallons of fuel mixture. At full power, the Falcon 9 burns 3,200 lbs of fuel per second.
The development costs for the Falcon 9 have been substantial. In 2011, SpaceX estimated that Falcon 9 v1.0 development costs were approximately $300 million. NASA estimated that development costs using a traditional cost-plus contract approach would have been $3.6 billion. A 2011 NASA report estimated that it would have cost the agency about $4 billion to develop a rocket like the Falcon 9 booster, while a more commercial development approach might have reduced costs to $1.7 billion. SpaceX and NASA jointly provided $846 million for the combined development costs of Falcon 9 and Dragon in 2014.
The list price for a Falcon 9 launch is $61.2 million, and the direct per-launch cost to SpaceX is estimated to be $36.7 million, including the costs of the fueled rocket and the launch campaign. SpaceX has not disclosed the minimum acceptable launch cadence for the Falcon 9. However, they have addressed the challenge of refurbishing rocket stages and engine blocs at low cost, as well as the performance penalty of reserving fuel in the first stage for landing, which adds mass to the vehicle.
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Fuel tank capacity
The Falcon 9 rocket uses rocket-grade kerosene, also known as RP-1, and liquid oxygen (LOX) as fuel. The liquid oxygen needs to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures to be compressed and fit more into the rocket. The rocket's fuel tanks were made 60% longer in V1.1, which made the rocket more susceptible to bending during the flight.
The Falcon 9 carries about 39,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and about 25,000 gallons of rocket-grade kerosene, for a total of 64,000 gallons of fuel mixture. The second stage of the Falcon 9 has 7,300 gallons of LOX and 4,600 gallons of RP-1, for a total of 11,900 gallons of fuel mixture.
The Falcon 9 burns 3,200 lbs of fuel per second at full power, with the percentage of RP-1 to LOX being 39% RP-1 to 61% LOX. The second stage burns about 1.04041535 gallons per second.
SpaceX has been working on reusable Falcon 9 rockets, with the first successful landing in December 2015 and the first reflight in March 2017. The Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) has replaced ground-based mission flight control personnel and equipment, increasing public safety and reducing reliance on range infrastructure and costs. However, the Falcon 9 will never be fully reusable as a new second stage must be built for each flight.
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Fuel consumption rate
The Falcon 9 rocket uses rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOX) as fuel. The rocket typically carries about 39,000 gallons of LOX and 25,000 gallons of RP-1, for a total of 64,000 gallons of the fuel mixture. The percentage of RP-1 to LOX is 39% RP-1 and 61% LOX.
The Falcon 9 burns 3,200 lbs of fuel per second at full power, with a fuel consumption rate of 1.04041535 gallons per second for the second stage. The second stage has a total of 11,900 gallons of fuel mixture, with 7,300 gallons of LOX and 4,600 gallons of RP-1.
The cost of fuel for a Falcon 9 launch is relatively low compared to the overall launch cost. The liquid oxygen, for example, costs around 20 cents per kilogram, making it the cheapest of the two fuels. SpaceX typically spends around $150,000 on fuel for a Falcon 9 launch.
In terms of fuel efficiency, the Falcon 9 has seen improvements over time with different versions. The V1.1 version, for instance, had fuel tanks that were 60% longer than the previous version, which may have impacted the rocket's performance during flight. The Falcon 9 Full Thrust version, also known as Falcon 9 V1.2, featured subcooled liquid oxygen and RP-1, allowing for increased propellant mass flow and improved thrust.
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Fuel leaks
The Falcon 9 rocket uses rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and cryogenically cooled liquid oxygen (LOX). The rocket carries about 39,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and about 25,000 gallons of rocket-grade kerosene, for a total of 64,000 gallons of fuel mixture.
Falcon 9 has experienced several issues with fuel leaks, which have resulted in mission failures. Fuel leaks have occurred in both the first and second stages of the rocket.
In March 2025, a Falcon 9 booster was lost due to a fuel leak that occurred during ascent. The fuel leak caused a fire, which led to the deterioration of the structural integrity of the landing leg, causing the booster to topple over after landing on a droneship. SpaceX and NASA's Launch Services Program (LSP) reviewed data from the incident to identify the source of the leak.
Another incident occurred in July 2024, when a liquid oxygen leak in the upper stage engine prevented the stage from executing its planned deorbit burn. The stage remained in orbit for two weeks before falling uncontrollably near Poznań, Poland.
Engineers face challenges in identifying the cause of fuel leaks due to the extensive damage and melting of components caused by fires. To mitigate the risk of fuel leaks, thorough inspections and static fire tests are conducted to identify potential leak areas.
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Frequently asked questions
Falcon 9 uses about 39,000 gallons of cryogenic Liquid oxygen (LOX) and about 25,000 gallons of rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) for a total of 64,000 gallons of fuel mixture.
The cost to fill an entire Falcon 9 is around $150,000. The liquid oxygen costs 20 cents per kilogram, while RP1 costs around 70 cents per kilogram.
Falcon 9 burns 3,200 lbs of fuel per second at full power. The second stage burns about 1.04041535 gallons per second.
